There are plenty of games that take place in a zombie apocalypse scenario, but not many that take the RPG route. Until now. Two veterans of Obsidian Studios have banded together to form a new independent developer, Double Bear Productions. Their first game, just recently announced, is an unnamed PC RPG focused around a zombie apocalypse as people come to terms with what has happened and begin to search for a safe place to live, ala Dawn of the Dead. Details on the new game were broken on the Iron Tower forums. Full post from Brian Mitsoda after the cut.[Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
Was hoping to save this for a rainy day, but it is cloudy here in Seattle today, so here we go. As the speculators have correctly guessed, yes, DoubleBear's first game is indeed a Zombie RPG, which we have fondly referred to as a ZRPG internally. Before people start running in all kinds of directions with that, here's what I will confirm:
- Set during the breakdown of society as emergence of zombies causes widespread panic and disorder.
- Slow, shambling zombies. Spreads like a virus/bite transmission. No, you are not a zombie, that would be stupid.
- Serious examination of a national crisis or natural disaster. Humans and a lack of order are a bigger threat than the undead. Think Hurricane Katrina, Children of Men, Dawn of the Dead NOT Resident Evil, Return of the Living Dead, zombie shooter-type games.
- Game is about survival. Scavenging resources, exploring the area, dealing with other survivors, and managing a "shelter" of sorts are the main focus of the game. More on this later.
- Game is open-ended. There are characters and events that could happen, but the story depends on where you go, what you do, and who you meet. Of course, there's a lot more to this and we'll go into more details as time goes on.

